Pool shark: Jacksonville contractor accused of scamming homeowners arrested for fraud

A Jacksonville pool contractor accused of scamming several families out of their life savings has been arrested.

Atlantic Beach police arrested 57-year-old Marvin Himel Monday on fraud charges.

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Action News Jax's Paige Kelton began investigating Himel in May 2017 after several families said they paid a local company for new pools, but the jobs were never finished.

Amy Feige said she was left with a huge hole in her backyard after she hired Florida Bonded Pools, a respected local company that was operated by the same family for decades.

Feige didn’t know that, in 2015, the family sold the rights to use its company name to Marvin Himel. The family also sold the company’s assets to Himel.

Kelton asked: “So he was benefiting off a good name that he had purchased?”

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“Correct,” said a Billy, a local real estate agent who didn’t want to reveal his last name.

Billy said he hired Marvin Himel and Florida Bonded Pools in 2016.

The trouble started almost immediately. He said he called Himel's office after he spent $20,000 and a bookkeeper told him his money was gone.

“I said, ‘Is my money gone?’” Billy said. “And she said, ‘Yours, and a lot of other people.’”

Himel’s pool business, which also operated under the name Agora Pools, is now closed. He is being sued by angry customers, forcing him to sell his businesses assets.

A search of Himel’s past turned up federal and state tax liens, and several judgments, including one over $120,000.

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Himel and his wife have also filed for bankruptcy protection -- twice.

A quick check of the Florida Department of State’s website showed Marvin Himel has been either president or an executive member of more than a half-dozen companies. All but one are now listed as inactive.

According to his LinkedIn page, Marvin Himel is now President of Ideal Coach Corporation, a company which helps teach entrepreneurs how to succeed.

While Himel’s business and financial history was easy to find, he was not. Our repeated calls to get his side of the story were not returned.

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Action News Jax went to his listed business address, which turned out to be an apartment. A woman answered the door saying Himel wasn’t home.

The woman closed the door when we asked her about the lawsuits against him.

Feige said to make matters worse, subcontractors who weren't paid are now coming after her, threatening to foreclose on her home.

“The owner told me a couple of times that he goes home and cries to his wife because of everything that's happened to me,” Feige said. “Because of everything, I have nothing left."

Cox Media Group